APC Belongs To All, Including Ekweremadu, Nwoye Declares

ENUGU, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXANIMER) – The Enugu state chapter of the ruling All progress Congress,( APC) has dismissed reports in some section of the media that the party is indisposed to receiving the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu into its fold should he indicate interest to do so, just as Ex- senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani did.

It said the party is opened to all genuine democrats and progressives in the State and south- East in general, adding that its three weeks registration exercise in the zone, expected to commence on Monday, January 16, 2017 “is open to all and sundry, including Ekweremadu “without any tariff”

Speaking with newsmen yesterday at the state party secretariat Enugu, at the end of its leaders and stakeholders meeting, the state party’s Chairman Dr. Ben Nwoye, maintained that APC’s door is widely open to all, stressing that the purported media statement did not emanate from the party’s leadership in the state.
He explained that the meeting was convened with a view to raising awareness among the people on the forthcoming registration exercise scheduled to take place in Enugu and other south East states.

According to Nwoye, every one interested in the APC,”now have the opportunity of registering through their respective political wards, no body should be barred from registering, the party is for all and sundry and lovers of true democracy.

He hinted that some chieftain of the opposition peoples Democratic party, PDP in the state, such as ex- Senate President Nnamani, immediate past Speaker, Enugu state House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odo, among others, are set to embrace the ruling party.

AFRICAN EXAMINER reported that the state APC Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Kate Offor, had on sunday issued a controversial statement that the party would not admit Ekweremadu, asking him to stay put in the (PDP) and if possible to clear the mess he contributed in no small measure into the party with.

It would also be recalled that in one of the sittings of the Senate last week, an APC Senator from Zamfara State, Kabiru Marafa had called on Ekweremadu to defect from PDP to APC, relying on Section 68 (g) of the Constitution, if he wants to retain his seat as Deputy Senate President.

Marafa’s call came on the heels of the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as Senate Leader and his replacement with Senator Ahmed Lawan. Both Ndume and Lawan belong to APC.

Nwoye said the APC in Enugu state expected the influx of old and new politicians from PDP and other political parties into its fold, “because we have worked tirelessly since 2016 to build our structure, as well as convince these politicians to join us for a better Nigerian.

“As it stands, we want the world to know that the PDP is in comatose in Enugu state, and we are fully prepared to wrestle power from them in 2019, because we have the structure.

“You will quite agree with me that all those politicians that made PDP tick in Enugu state in the past, including former governor of old Anambara state and ex- Senator, Ifeanyichukwu Jim Nwobodo have all dumped the opposition party, for APC.

Nwoye however advised the Igbo race to join the APC for the political betterment of Ndigbo.